We’re excited to be featured this week in an exclusive case study by MarketingProfs, the leading online resource for marketing professionals. We’re big fans of MarketingProfs’ in-depth reports and newsletters, and we’re grateful that our platform is receiving special, frontpage exposure — to over 319,000 MarketingProfs members!

The case study examines our recent “@#$%” video campaign for Serena Software, a company that serves 96 of the Fortune 100. It describes how the Involver platform helped Serena “beat the odds” with effective Facebook marketing.

MarketingProfs’ Kimberly Smith does a great job explaining some key learnings from the campaign:

“Facebook can be a viable B2B marketing channel. Since it already used Facebook as its company intranet, Serena was confident that there were other business professionals networking on the site, and it found a fun way to connect with them. The company took a risk in advertising the video solely on Facebook, given the site’s notoriously low response rates, but it found success by creating an interactive application experience that mirrored regular Facebook activity, as opposed to advertising with banners. The bleeping video sparked intrigue, and the succinct calls to action and follow-on content were effective elements for guiding users through to the Serena Web site.”

Stories like Serena’s prove that there is much more to video marketing than video display. Increasingly, we’ve been talking to companies and organizations that are searching for an effective alternative to traditional video-sharing sites like YouTube. Which is to say — they’re actively looking for something beyond a simple “click-to-view” solution, and they’re looking for something that provides measurable ROI.

We believe this is where Involver comes in. Our end-to-end platform is the easiest way to syndicate videos to Facebook and other social networks. And our robust set of features and services — MarketingProfs focused on our rich video plugins — gives marketers the tools they need to create immediate and long-term viewer engagement via video.

Thank you to MarketingProfs for featuring the Involver platform! Click here to read the full write-up (subscription required).

Kiva.org chooses Involver video campaign platform to tap into Facebook and MySpace.

San Francisco, CA / August 26, 2008 — Involver today announced that over 100,000 Facebook and MySpace users have discovered Kiva.org, with thousands sharing the
“I lend because…” Kiva video on their personal profiles. These users are now promoting micro-lending to their personal networks, extending the reach of Kiva.org to an audience that was largely unfamiliar with their cause.

Kiva chose the Involver video campaign platform to tap into Facebook and MySpace, attracting a new audience to their person-to-person micro-lending website. Kiva understands the power of connecting people for a common cause, and hopes to empower members of social networks to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world.

“We want to extend our community beyond Kiva.org and join the conversation on social networks like Facebook and MySpace in a very personal and dynamic way,” says Premal Shah, president of Kiva.org. “Involver’s deep integration with the leading social networks let Kiva deliver a very emotional appeal and introduce micro-lending to a new audience in a clear and simple way.”

Involver recently launched the pilot program for its video campaign platform to transform the user experience for video marketing from simply passive (”watch this and hope they click”) to active and engaged. The Involver platform lets viewers immediately interact with video in a simple, non-obtrusive way, dramatically increasing engagement.

“Our video campaign platform automatically built branded Facebook and MySpace applications for the Kiva video, allowing people to discover and share the campaign with friends in a non-intrusive way,” says Rahim Fazal, co-founder and CEO of Involver. “We have created a dynamic and personalized way for lenders to communicate and extend the Kiva experience to a new audience.”

Involver is accepting applications to join its pilot program and plans to add new companies as they expand to support additional large video campaigns. Involver plans to open access to their video campaign platform later this year.

On the eve of his 22^nd birthday, Usain Bolt makes track-and-field history.

Tonight in Beijing in the 200-meter final, the Jamaican sprinter surged to his second Olympic gold medal, crossing the finish line in a staggering world-record time of 19.30 seconds. The previous 200m mark was held for over 12 years by Michael Johnson, and no one thought that it would ever be broken… let alone smashed by an ascendant star who finished this race about four body lengths ahead of everyone else.

Bolt is the first runner ever to break both the 100m and 200m records at the same Olympics, and the first since Carl Lewis in 1984 to win the “Sprint Double.”

We’re excited to be a part of this amazing moment in sporting and Olympic history. Over the next week, we’ll be posting new video content to the Involver-powered chasingBOLT campaign, so please make sure to check back here.

Join us in congratulating Usain! Through Puma’s chasingBOLT Facebook app, you can send him a personal photo message right now. Submit anything — a written note, a picture of you and your friends celebrating Usain’s world records, etc. As a bonus, Puma will mail some Limited Edition Gold Medal/World Record T-shirts to the campaign members who send in the best photo submissions. (Usain will do the choosing — he’ll be watching the app constantly!)

To send a photo message to Usain Bolt, simply log in to your Facebook account and then go to the app homepage. (Follow the links in the big yellow box).

Congratulations, Usain!

9.69 seconds — That’s the new 100m world record set today by Usain Bolt, the star of Puma’s chasingBOLT video campaign. Usain won his Olympic gold medal in astounding style, smashing his own previous world record in front of a sellout crowd of 91,000.

Read the full story in this New York Times article. The headline says it all: “Bolt Is World’s Fastest — by a Mile.”

Stay tuned for some great video updates to the chasingBOLT campaign. It’s time to celebrate!

With the 2008 Beijing Olympics in full swing, Usain Bolt is ready to go. This Saturday night, all eyes will be on the Jamaican sprinter as he vies for Gold in his first event, the 100 meters.

But you don’t have to wait to see him compete! Puma has posted a great Flash game that allows you to run lane-to-lane with Bolt in a primetime, simulated contest. While we didn’t do so well — we put in a 11.55 sec 100m — we hope you’ll be up for your own challenge. Click here to play “RACE BOLT.”

We’re excited to see the Involver-powered chasingBOLT campaign keep pace with the world’s fastest man. Since the launch of the campaign late last week, Puma’s videos have garnered over 225,000 views through the Involver Platform alone, and the chasingBOLT Facebook app already has thousands of active users. And all the while Puma has been able to publish a new video every day. Using Involver’s easy self-serve builder, the company has distributed four videos so far, and updated its branded video player with a number of custom plugins (like the game button), all on-the-fly.

After you race Bolt, leave us a comment with how you did. If you don’t beat Bolt in the race, we’re guessing you can at least beat our 11.55 time.

Well, the Involver Video Campaign Platform does, at any rate. Today, we are excited to announce Puma’s “chasingBolt” blogumentary produced by coBRANDiT and distributed through Involver.

coBRANDiT and Puma used the Involver Platform to create the custom video player below as well as a full-featured, branded Facebook application.

Watch this daily video journal as it follows Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, the current 100m world record holder, as he trains, eats, sleeps, runs, and (hopefully) wins his way into history at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

“Having the world record is great, but the real goal is an Olympic gold,” Bolt said shortly after setting the 9.72 sec World Record in New York City on May 31st. “Someone will break my world record. But you’re always an Olympic Champion.” Usain will be competing for Olympic gold in the 100m, 200m, and the 4×100m relay.

The chasingBOLT blogumentary has been following the Jamaican star from Kingston to the Big Apple to Europe and on to Beijing. Viewers will have unrivaled access to this charismatic phenom and have a chance to run with the fastest human being in the world. Check regularly for new content, posted every weekday.

coBRANDiT, in conjunction with Puma and the “chasingBOLT” campaign, is a member of the Involver Pilot Program. You can sign up now to leverage the power of Involver for your video campaign. The deadline to apply is August 29th. Request access to the Pilot Program today!